Latch lever



Feb.; 17., 1925.

J. P. SEAHOLM LATCH LEVER Filed Feb. 1s, 1922 Patented Feb. 17, 1925.

UNITED STATESA JOHN P. SAHO'LM, OF MOLINE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO

1,526,875 PATENT orrlcna..v

MOLINE IELO'v COMPANY, INCORPORATED, OF MOLINE, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF VIRGINIA.

Application led February 13, 1922.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOHN P. SEAHOLM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Moline, county of Rock Island, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Latch Levers, of which the following is a. specification.

. The invention relates to latch levers.

It is particularly concerned with levers used with agricultural implements.

It is always desirable and frequently necessary to have the handle of a latch lever in a position where it may be easily grasped by an operator seated on an implement, but it is very often impossible to have the handle of a straight lever positioned so that it may be easily grasped. The difliculty has been overcome by bending the lever, but this has always introduced the complication of having to provide some kind of a mechanism for transmitting the motion of the latch operating means past the bend in the lever. j It hasheretofore been customary to do this by providing a series of levers or other devices which are made in more than one piece andusually arersomewhat complicate-d and expensive. The present invention has been devised toaccomplish this object .in a much more economical and efficient manner.

The general object of the invention is to provide an improved latch lever.

A more specific object is to provide a simple construction for transmitting the motion of the latching means of abent lever past the bent portion of that lever. j

Other objects and advantages of the in vention will appear from the specification and drawings.

An embodiment of the invention is illus tra-ted in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the latch lever.

Figure 2 is an end elevation.

The lever comprises a bent body member 1, a latch member 2 mounted in a guide 3 and a link 4 operated by a latch handle 5.

The body member 1 is preferably bent from a single strip of flat metal and provided with a handle portion 6 and an opening 7, the latter being used to pivot the handle to the implement with which it is to be used. A slot 8 is formed slightly below the bent portion of the body to receive one end of the latch `as will be hereinafter de LATCH LEVER.

Serial No. 536,221.

scribed. This member can be easily stamped from a :dat metal bar with the holes punched and the handle formed in one operation and it then can be subsequently bent to the de sired shape.

The guide member 3 is likewise bent from a strip of flat metal into the shape shown `in the drawings and is attached to the body The latch member 2 is bent from a roundf metal rod, one end being bent at right angles to form the locking portion 11, such portion projecting through the slots 10 and 8 and being kept `from endwise movement by a Cotter pin 12 or the like. The body of the` latch member is bent to substantially the same angle as the body portion of the lever and the upper end projects through the hole 9 in theg'uide 3 as illustrated. Projections y 13 are struck up `from the body of the latch member and bearing against these and against the upper lip of the guide member, is a spring 14 which serves to normally bias t-he latch member downwardly into locking position.

The link et is connected to the upper end of the latch member and to the lower end of the pivoted handle 5, the latter being pivoted in any desired position on the body member 1, preferably near the upper end thereof adjacent the handle portion.

This construction is simple and inexpen sive and, at the same time, durable and efficient. When the handle 5 is pressed toward the body 1 of the lever, t-he link 4 is pulled upwardly, which, in turn, pulls the latch member 2 upwardly against the tension of spring 14, thereby unlatching the lever. The latch member 2 slides through the openings 3, 10 and S without substantial friction due to the fact that the bend in the lever is a gradual one and due to the fact that the latch member has the same curvature as the body member so that the pull is efficient-ly transmitted.

This simple structure made of a itew parts solves a problem that has been betore implement manufacturers Yfor a large number of years and which heretofore has always been thought impossible ot practical solution except by mechanism including a larger number ot parts involving more expense.

It is to be understood that the construe tion shown is for purposes of illustration only and that other structures may be devised without departing from the spirit and scope ot the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A latch lever having a bent body mem ber, a reciprocating latchmember adjacent the bent` portion of the body member and bent to substantially the same angle, and means tor reciprocating the latch member.

2. A latch lever having' a bent body member, a reciprocating latch member supported on said body member adjacent the bent portion thereof, said latch member being substantially parallel to the body member and being bent to substantially the same angle, and means on the body member tor reciprocating the latch member.

3. A latch lever having a bent body member, a reciprocating latch member carried by the body member adjacent its bent portion, said latch member being bent to substantially the same angle as the body member, a guide for a latch member a spring normally biasing said latch member in one direction, and means carried by the body member for reciprocating the latch member in the other direction against the tension ot the spring.

4. An angular latch lever having a bent body member made trom a single strip of metal, a guide member bent from a single strip oi" metal and xed to the body member at the bent portion thereof, a latch member mounted in thevguide, said latch member being bent trom a single strip to substantially the same angle as the body member, a spring tor normally biasing the latch member in one direction, a link connected to the latch member, and a handle connected to the link and pivoted to the body member near the end thereof for manipulation ot thelatch member against the tension of thefsprino.

A latch lever having a rbent body member, a reciprocating latch member located adjacent the bent portion of the body member and bent to substantially the same angle, one end oi said latch member being guided so as to move substantially parallel to the axis of one portion ot the'bo'dy member, and the other end of the latch member being guided so as to move substantially parallel to the other portion of the body member, and means for reciprocating the latch member.

6. A latch lever having a body portion adapted to be pivoted to a frame andto cooperate With a toothed sector, abend in the body portion above the point where it is adapted to co-opera-te with a toothed sector, a reciprocatable latch member carried by t-he body member `and adapted to co-operate with a toothed sector, said latch member being bent to substantially the same angle as the body member and being located adjacent the bend in the latter, a guide for a latch member on one side of the bend in the body member, and a guide for a latch member on the other side ot the bend, a spring normally biasing the latch member to engage a toothed sector, and means for moving the latch longitudinally against the action ot' the spring.

7. A latch lever comprising a body member adapted to be pivoted to a frame and to co-operate with a toothed sector, a bend in the body member above the point whereit is adapted to co-operate with a toothed sector. a` guido attached to the body member near its bent portion, one end of the guide being spaced from and substantially parallel to the body member to torm. a guide-for a toothed sector, and the other end of the guide on the other side ot the bend in the body member projected outwardly to `torm a guide for a latch member, a latch member having one end guided in thc projecting end ot the guide member and the other end bent and projected through slots in theguide member and thel body member and adapted to co-operate with a toothed sector, and means for reciprocating the .latch member.

In testimony whereof, I atliX my signature.

JOHN P. SEAI-IOLR'I. 

